


unstain our dragons

by The Jingo (The_King_in_White)



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening, Naruto
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-20
Updated: 2016-05-20
Packaged: 2018-06-09 16:06:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6913966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_King_in_White/pseuds/The%20Jingo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From the burning ruins of Ostagar to the dirty streets of Denerim, Uchiha Sasuke was not the hero anyone would have expected. But he may be the one they need.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Old World

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own either Naruto or the Dragon Age franchises, or anything pertaining to them.
> 
> Dragon of Beauty has been through a couple of iterations already. The first time, as my first real fanfic outside of old 14 year old Warcraft ramblings. And the second time, as a revarnished version to fill in some plotholes and polish it a little bit. But now that Naruto is finished, and considering Sasuke's character development in the tail end of the manga, I decided that this really should perhaps be rewritten entirely. Throw out a lot of the old stuff, diverge at 699/The Last instead of at some random point during the Fourth Shinobi World War.

"That should do it, Sasuke-kun."

"Ah."

Staring down at his bandaged left arm, Sasuke carefully clenched his fingers into a tight fist. Every motion was smooth and controlled, filled with hidden strength. The prosthetic crafted from Hashirama's flesh was a pale and ugly thing to the Uchiha's eyes, but even Sasuke couldn't deny that even after a century the Senju's grafted sinew was still stronger than his natural body.

Still it was good to have two arms again. Even if the replacement made him resemble fucking _Danzo_. The mere thought of resembling in any way the man who had ordered the slaughter of his family – infants and all – had almost swayed Sasuke into refusing to have the prosthetic implanted. That, and his desire to reflect physically in some way that he was atoning for his mistakes.

Both sentiments only lasted until Naruto got hold of the Uchiha with a pair of saucers in one hand and a bottle of aged sake in the other. The blonde inadvertently started a weekly tradition of Team Seven meetings in the process.

Sasuke swung his legs to the sit and hopped off the operating table. "That point of attachment is secure right? Just like a real arm – it won't fall off if I punch the dobe in the face?"

Laughter filled the air like the sound of tinkling bells, and the Uchiha felt a reluctant smirk twist his lips as he pinned Sakura with his Rinnegan eye. The sudden fondness for Sakura and Kakashi was a little confusing, since Sasuke had never been willing to admit bonds with anyone besides Naruto and his kin before. But it was... pleasant, and Sasuke couldn't regret that those bonds existed.

"No Sasuke-kun." Sakura shook her head, peeling off her latex gloves with a snap. "Shodai-sama's cells bind very tightly. It will be just a durable as your native arm. More so even, considering his chakra and vitality. If it was going to fall off, it would have failed at bonding in the first place."

"Hn." Sasuke grunted, throwing his poncho around his shoulders. The light brown swath of cloth resembled the one he'd been wearing when he'd returned to the village. But like his freshly laundered and mended clothes, the new poncho had been a gift to the Uchiha from his pink-haired teammate. "Thanks, Sakura."

A rosy blush tinted the medic's cheeks, but unlike she might have in younger years Sakura took it all in stride. She'd grown into a mature young woman – very different from her young fangirl self. "You're welcome."

Tucking his sheathed chokuto back into placed, Sasuke passed a feather-light finger over the dented and scratched surface of his old hitai-ate where it hung at his hip. "Where's the dobe? Still sucking face with that Hyuuga? You'd have thought the novelty would wear off by now."

"Now, now Sasuke-kun, you're starting to sound like a jealous wife." Sakura teased him in a sarcastic scold. "I know you're a little emotionally stunted but when a boy and a girl love each other very much sometimes they like to hug and kiss. It's only been a week since the incident with Toneri. I think we can afford to give them a little bit of time to sort their feelings out, no?"

"Che, don't be ridiculous."

* * *

"You don't have to go, ya know?" Naruto sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets and staring at the unruffled form of his brother through dozens of reincarnated lives. "Everyone's already forgiven you. It's not like you can't stay in Konoha and have a good life. Or even move off to one of the other villages if that floats your boat. I know someone should look after Oto – everyone knows that Orochimaru is less of a Kage and more of a lab geek – you could do it if you wanted."

"It's not about _having_ to go." Looking over Konoha with a distant expression, Sasuke took in all the ways the village had changed since Pein had destroyed it and the people rebuilt it. "It's about _wanting_ to go. It's the answer that I left the village to find in the first place. The Uchiha Clan of the Leaf. The Senju – we're part of a world that's gone by. It's time to entrust the new world to the ones that'll be coming after us. The cycle of reincarnation will end, and I'll be able to move forward with no regrets."

Sighing, Naruto turned away from his best friend and joined him in taking in the changed form of the village. The last few months Sasuke had stayed resolutely within the borders of the village, refusing any mission that would take him beyond Konoha's walls and rebuilding all the broken bonds he had with their comrades. The blonde had been utterly ecstatic to drop in to see Shikamaru only to find the Nara playing a round of shoji with Sasuke.

Underneath all of the shock and joy however, had been the constant sense of foreboding. Naruto hadn't wanted to admit it, but the Uzumaki had known all along. The extended stay in the village, the smiles and jokes, and long-winded conversations over cups of sake with Sakura and Kakashi... it was Sasuke's way of saying goodbye. The Uchiha had wanted to mend all the fences he'd broken and make peace with all the people he'd hurt over the years, so that he could pass on without leaving behind unfinished business and regrets.

Naruto wiped the back of his hand over his stinging eyes before giving Sasuke a saucy grin. "Yeah I get it. Don't worry about the village bastard; I'll look after it while you're gone. So you just take it nice and easy wherever you end up. And don't you dare forget to come back for a visit."

Lips tilting up in a small but true smile, Sasuke favoured the blonde with an exasperated but fond glare out of his mismatched eyes. "Why would I want to come for a visit when I've finally gotten away from you, dobe?"

"Teme!"

Sasuke laughed – the sound coming far easier to him now, after having finally escaped the road of darkness his feet had been walking so long.

The exaggerated grimace of annoyance on Naruto's face smoothed out to long-suffering amusement.

"Asshole."

Silence fell between the two young men as they watched the crimson sun settle through dusk over the village together one last time. Sasuke had already made all his farewells – apologized to a teary Sakura and endured the ruffling of his hair by a paternal Kakashi. He'd shaken hands with all the various members of their generation, passing along his goodbye with a firm hand until there was only one parting remaining.

"Well." Sasuke broke in, slipping his hands into his pockets and turning his back to the last desperate pink rays of the sun. "I'll be moving on now, but I'll be back to see you guys at some point or another. Look after them would you?"

Blue eyes glinted with a serious light. "It's a promise."

A light flush dusted along Sasuke's cheekbones as he began circulating chakra in preparation. "And if I don't make it back for some reason, I'll come find you guys in the next life. Who knows? Maybe we can have another drink..."

"I'll see you."

"Thanks, Naruto. For everything." For being his brother. For having faith in him. For never giving up on him.

Then the space-time doujutsu was upon him, and there was no more time for words. A black void sprang into being around Sasuke, swallowing the Uchiha up and pulling him out of the world with a deep purple tint and the quiet hiss of wind in the abyss.

Sasuke _reached_ , soul and chakra questing on and on past the familiar dark crossroads that he suspected would lead him to one of the dimensions that Kaguya had warred with Naruto and Sasuke in. The strain built as he stretched himself ever-thinner, one end of him connected to the dimension he'd been born in and the other searching for something _new_.

Then something within Sasuke snapped. Blazing pain shattered through the Uchiha's mind as he came undone. The foothold to return home went spinning into the endless void as Sasuke drifted rootless and bleeding his soul and chakra through the seams of his existence. It was mind rending agony that endured beyond comprehension, reducing all higher functions of self to nothing but suffering.

If Sasuke could have had any thought outside of the pain, he would've asked: "Why is it taking so damn long to die?"

Then senselessness rose up and smothered him away.

* * *

The sound of rustling leaves was the first thing that trickled into his mind. Then the chirping of birds and the smell of must. Then came the feeling of ground pressing into his back.

_Feeling?_

His body exploded into agony and Sasuke was forced to take a shuddering gasp. _Everywhere_ hurt. His ribs were on fire, his head absolutely pounded, blood rushed through his ears and he was vaguely aware of the copper tang of blood on his tongue. Wetness seeped from the corners of his eyelids, and the Uchiha knew that he traversing the void had made his eyes bleed again.

Sasuke pried his eyelids open with a groan, breaking the crust of blood that had sealed them shut.

A thick canopy of leaves blocked the view of the sky from his sight. And it felt wrong. Not the lack of the sky, but the very forest itself. It felt tainted, _Blighted_ some subconscious part of his mind whispered. Whatever it was, it felt very wrong and he needed to leave. He needed to _get out_.

Weakness shook in every coil of Sasuke's body. He was so strung out and drained that he wanted nothing more than to roll over sink back into unconsciousness – to do nothing but rest until he had enough energy that he could at roll over without wanting to pass out. But there really was no choice. Sasuke had to get out of there, because wherever he was stunk of violence and dead things.

Heaving to his feet, his body shrieked with pain and Sasuke stumbled against a tree for support. His tongue felt thick and his mouth dry behind his teeth. Rolling his tongue across his gums, Sasuke spat out a sticky glob of blood and saliva.

" _Oh ho ho! What do we have here?"_

The Uchiha whirled around, flesh protesting the move as he glared at the speaker through glazed dark eyes.

It was a very old, very gray haired woman. Someone's mother perhaps, he thought, but the air around her did not crackle with power and he felt slightly disgusted at having let a _civilian_ get the drop on him. Evidently, he was so drained he was barely capable of fighting at best.

Sasuke opened his mouth to demand directions to get out of the woods, but clicked shut as he glanced at her eyes. Eyes that were amber and feral and _slitted_. Like Naruto's had been when he channeled the chakra of one of the tailed beasts. _Demon's eyes,_ people back home would have called them – at least before Naruto won all of them over with his bright grin and assurances about the changed hearts of his tailed beast friends.

Scraping up the last dregs of his chakra, Sasuke shoved it all into his eyes. Sharingan blazed to life in preparation for battle, tomoe spinning as the Uchiha strained to reach his Mangekyou and Rinnegan. But it was like reaching for the moon, and his clan's kekkei genkai sputtered back to useless dark irises as the last drops of his chakra ran dry.

Sasuke had the chance to see one of her eyebrows quirk in what could be interest before the strain of already having overused his body slammed back into him, sending his mind tumbling away into darkness and his body crumpling to the ground.

" _Well isn't that just curious."_ Flemeth mused as the young man collapsed face down into the loam. Considering Sasuke with a proprietary gaze, the Witch of the Wilds smirked _. "I think you'll do quite nicely."_


	2. The New World

_He cradled a thousand birds in his palm._

_The sky was dark, roiling clouds rumbled in from beyond the horizon, bringing with them the scent of rain. The barest rumble of thunder reached his ears, and he could feel the change of atmospheric pressure in his marrow._

_Uchiha Madara stood at his back, face carefully blank as he forced his right hand into the seal of confrontation. Across the river, an equally blank Senju Hashirama stared back, mimicking Madara's stance. Currents rushed between the two shinobi legends, brought tumbling down from the waterfall that had be carved by their ferocious and terrible battle for possession of the Kyuubi no kitsune._

_Thus they stood, immortalized in stone for more than a hundred years as the world turned and Konoha forgot the lessons of the past. The Uchiha clan burned with the Curse of Hatred on their lips and fire in their lungs, until at the very end when they sputtered into the cold dark at the hand of one of their own. Uchiha Sasuke was the last ember, flickering in the night, slowly and steadily cooling, until at last going out._

_He cradled a thousand birds in his palm._

_There was the boy, tattered orange jumpsuit clinging about his frame_ but never quite letting go _. The jumpsuit was too much like the boy: thousand-birds thought, too bright and too happy and too hopeful and just_ too determined. _The boy clutched a spiralling sphere in his taloned hand, face twisted in a rictus of pain and fury and determination. Whiskers slashed along his cheeks, blackened and swollen and_ feral, _brought out by the red cloud surrounding him._

 _He was using a dark and terrible power, it twisted and raged and_ hungered _. A lesser man might have succumbed into becoming a beast. But the boy was too strong, he had bonds and precious people too protect and he would_ never give up _. That was his nindo, and to keep the promise of a lifetime, he refused to allow his best friend-_ rival-brother- _to destroy himself._

_They lunged, feet slapping along the river's surface and splashing water about their antagonistic forms. They leapt, and with faces written with promise, brought the thousand birds and the spiralling sphere into most grievous contact. Frozen in the moment as chakra sputtered and shimmered purple into black._

_Bonds._

_Then the boy faltered because even as determined and convicted as he was, he could_ _not_ kill _his_ _friend and thousand-birds plunged a thousand birds into his chest. Skin and sinew gave way and burned, bone gave way and cracked and his hand ran through the boy's lung and tore out the boy's back. The boy's blood splattered his face and dyed his hand red._

_The boy's heart shivered a tremulous beat against his elbow._

_Thousand Birds screamed._

* * *

"NARUTO!"

Uchiha Sasuke leapt out of sleep, arm outstretched as he shot into a sitting position. His hand twisted into a claw, he shook with tension. Then he took a ragged breath and dropped his trembling limb into his lap before collapsing back into the bed. He was completely soaked in sweat he noted absently, before clamping down on his rampant emotions with a will of steel.

Heaving out a gusting sigh, Sasuke took stock of his surroundings.

Wooden beams held up a slanted ceiling, arched over painted walls and a wooden floor, all darkened with damp and age. The air felt slightly clammy, and smelled of must, mothballs, and _food?_ His stomach rumbled on cue, and he turned his gaze to a bricked in fireplace with stew simmering in an ironclad pot.

Whoever had rescued him was most likely simply a concerned hunter or something similar, since this certainly didn't _look_ like an interrogation cell and it didn't _feel_ like a genjutsu and he was _pretty sure_ that he wasn't dead.

Sasuke blinked at the memory of his injuries. There was still an ache behind his eyes, overused ocular chakra coils likely being the cause, and he felt rather stiff. But his internal injuries were certainly healed and that meant that somebody had speed up the healing process. Somebody with _chakra_.

Eyes that were amber and feral and _slitted_ flashed through his mind.

So it was that old woman that had done this? He didn't doubt it, since she had appeared too interested in him to simply leave him on the forest floor for someone or _something_ else to stumble upon him. People were ultimately self-serving he knew, even if Naruto wished it was different, and Sasuke hadn't survived where dozens of other people had _died_ by being naïve and trusting.

Swinging his legs out of the bed and rising to his feet shakily, Sasuke quickly scanned the hut for other presences. There were none, and he was rather glad as the cool air brought to his attention that he was standing in some stranger's home very naked.

Heat instinctively rose in his cheeks before he forced the sentiment away into the tiny corner of his mind that all his other unnecessary emotions lurked. Emotional control the way the Hebi Sennin had taught him.

A glint caught his eye, and he turned to stare at his battered chokuto that had survived the years of the Fourth Shinobi World War with him. The blade itself was still as sharp and straight as ever, though the sheathe had obtained a coat of scratches and dents since Orochimaru had given it to him a lifetime ago.

The same clothes that he had defended Konoha from a barrage of meteors wearing four months past sat folded underneath his Sword of Kusanagi, the entire bundle perched atop a rickety old chair that had certainly seen better days.

He dressed with all the mechanical speed that a life as a shinobi had engrained in him. _Do not let your guard down more than is necessary._ Not a moment too soon it seemed. As Sasuke gathered up the new poncho Sakura had bought him in one hand, the door to the small ramshackle hut swung inward.

Gaze darting to his audience, he stared down the intruder as he tied his chokuto about his waist and waited for his eyes to adjust to the influx of sunlight.

It was the old grey haired woman from... however long ago it was that he passed out, followed closely by a younger woman near to the Uchiha's own age with black hair. They both had the same eyes though, and his felt the hairs on the back of his neck instinctively rise. The black haired woman didn't react, but the sardonic curl the old one's lips made suggested that Sasuke's instinctive reaction did not go unnoticed.

The Uchiha automatically sized them up as threats. They may have taken him home and cared for him while Sasuke was unconscious and defenceless due to his inter-dimensional journey, but that wasn't proof of them being good people.

The young one seemed more physically powerful, and undoubtedly more agile, but ultimately she lacked the sense of _other_ the old one projected. Besides the amber eyes, she came across as human as he himself was. He chalked up the strange coloured irises as resultant from some strange usage of chakra or perhaps a kekkai genkai.

The old one was more dangerous, he subconsciously decided. Because unlike the young woman, she didn't come across as entirely human. She tickled every subconscious instinct of danger Sasuke had, like some otherworldly creature that wore the skin of a human being. Like Orochimaru had done at the Chuunin Exams nearly a decade ago.

"I see our guest has awoken. Such a handsome young specimen, would you not agree Morrigan?"

"Hush mother, don't embarrass yourself. No one with better looks than a troll would be interested in the likes of you."

"Oh I don't know, I used to turn heads back in the day myself." The old one cackled, mirth colouring her voice.

"Mother!" The young one barked back, voice pitching his in an exasperated sound.

Sasuke just blinked at the interaction.

"You there! Boy, what's your name?" the old one returned her focus to the Uchiha, smirking in amusement at the way he tensed when her finger pointed at his face.

" _I have no idea what you're saying."_ The shinobi confessed, eying the yellowed nail at the bony end of her finger with dark orbs.

"What now? He's obviously some foreign buffoon wandering into places he has no business in." the young woman snarked, glaring at Sasuke.. The old one's eyebrow merely quirked once more, amber irises catching the light.

" _Do you speak my language? I certainly don't speak yours."_ Sasuke tried again, frustration mounting at the language barrier.

The young one frowned at him with disapproval, and the old one bent over cackling with laughter. The Uchiha scowled, his infamous pride stinging.

It hadn't really mattered to him before, since she had been laughing at someone else. But now that she was laughing at him,- _An Uchiha!- ,_ he decided that her screeching was rather annoying and if she didn't _stop_ he was going to put a kunai in her throat, gratitude and the old woman's hidden monstrosity be damned.

Luckily for her, she petered out with one last wheezing chuckle before straightening up and snorting. The young one merely rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, the bracelets and bangles strung along her arms jingling.

"He doesn't speak our language and we don't speak his. No matter, I can still make use of him."

The young one merely made a disbelieving scoff, but quieting down once the old one gave her a look.

Turning back to Sasuke, the old woman placed a hand on her bony chest and intoned clearly "Flemeth". Sasuke pursed his lips as he repeated her name back to her, trying several times before he achieved the correct pronunciation. As he prepared to offer his own name in return, Flemeth hushed him before glancing at the young one.

"Do introduce youself daughter."

The young one huffed in annoyance before placing her hand on her own chest and uttering "Morrigan". Sasuke echoed her name back to her, reaching the correct accent with less difficulty than he had with Flemeth's name. After Morrigan nodded her satisfaction to him, he tapped his chest.

"Sasuke."

To his annoyance, they reached the appropriate pronunciation almost immediately. He wondered if they were used to learning new languages.

Flemeth just smirked at him before sweeping out the door, stopping on the threshold to toss back "Do feed the boy, Morrigan."

Morrigan growled with annoyance and stomped over to the pot simmering over the fire. Spooning out a bowl before stepping back over to Sasuke, she shoved it into his hands before spinning back to retrieve a bowl for herself.

Sasuke, for his part, only prevented the soup spilling all over his newly cleaned and mended clothes through his conditioned reflexes. Giving the hot liquid a moment to cool, Sasuke took a sip and found it surprisingly good. A little greasier than he was used to, for lack of a better term, but good.

Poison didn't concern him after the amount of conditioning and resistance Orochimaru had introduced to his flesh during their time together.

Narrowing his eyes at the young woman, he quickly spooned down the stew before setting the bowl down on the pockmarked table. As rude as she was, he wasn't about to return the favours the two of them had granted him by smashing the bowl into her face.

Sasuke sat quietly and continued to observe his surroundings as Morrigan consumed her own meal at a much more sedate pace. Two staves leaned against the wall by the door, and he wondered what sort of technique would require great wooden sticks.

Snorting in amusement at the thought, the Uchiha decided to give them and whatever strange jutsus they had the benefit of the doubt. He had learned caution after Orochimaru and Itachi had beaten the overconfidence out of him, and he wasn't about to forget that lesson now.

Brought out of his musings by the clink of pottery on wood, he swung his gaze back to Morrigan and watched as the young woman rose to her feet. "Come along then" she spoke quietly, her voice absent of the crankiness it had carried when she was assigned the duty of feeding him. Striding over to the door with his gaze boring into her back, she threw it open and stepped into the sunlight.

Sasuke just smirked. And waited.

Half a minute later she glided back inside to favour him with a glare. Moving slowly, as if he were some particularly stupid creature, she stretched her arm out in his direction with the palm facing up, then curled her fingers slowly before opening them and slowly closing them again. She repeated the motion.

The Uchiha just laughed in her face.

Scowling at the raven, Morrigan spun on the spot and stomped back outside. Leaving Sasuke to shake his head in amusement, push his chair in like a person with manners, and followed the two women into the world outside.


	3. The Wicked Witch of the Wilds

Alistair crossed his arms and _seethed_.

He didn't think it was possible to hate anyone as much as he hated Teyrn Loghain. He couldn't believe that the dirty cut-throat bastard had run out on them! What sort of 'hero' left his king - the last legitimate heir to the throne - to die on the battlefield? His own son-in-law, no less?

Clawing through his short hair angrily, Alistair ground his teeth. "What the _fuck_ am I supposed to do now?"

He'd only been a Warden for six months, he didn't know how to handle a Blight! Yet here he was, miles deep in a blight-ravaged forest with two _maleficarum_ for company. Not for the last time he wished that Ser Jory had survived the Joining, though he would've taken Daveth with open arms at this point. And Duncan-

The Grey Warden cut off that thought ruthlessly. There would be time for grieving later. Right now Alistair needed to figure out what to do with himself.

He was the very _last_ of the Grey Wardens in Ferelden. He couldn't afford to let down his guard around two apostate mages with unknown intentions. Even if they _had_ saved his life, they probably only wanted him for _stew_ or something!

Best not to think on that one, it might give them _ideas,_ and everyone knew that a maleficar could bend the brains of almost anyone.

Frustrated, Alistair's foot lashed out, kicking a rock into the scummy marsh. He scowled at it absently. At least they hadn't fed him anything _, 'Maker knows what sort of meal they'd come up with in_ this _place.'_

"No, stop complaining! You're a Grey Warden, think about what you should be doing instead of moaning at the world." The Templar trainee muttered to himself.

It wasn't like Duncan had told him the standard procedure on how to deal with a Blight… if there actually _was_ a standard procedure. All he really knew was that during the Blights the Grey Wardens would charge valiantly into battle, leading armies by example.

Leading _armies_.

His face slackened with realization. Slapping himself on the forehead, Alistair laughed humourlessly. "Of course! The Grey Warden treaties! All I have to do is somehow convince all the people of Ferelden to follow me". Rolling his eyes sarcastically, the warrior snorted. "Yeah, that'll be _real_ easy. I'll just march right in and go 'I am a Grey Warden, powerful and fierce! Follow me to victory if you want to live!'."

Slumping against a nearby tree, the Warden sagged bonelessly to the ground, not caring about the mud splattering his armour. "It's pretty hopeless" he sighed.

Alistair briefly entertained the idea of travelling to Orlais to obtain aid from the Grey Wardens there, and maybe the Chevaliers as well. Except by the time the blonde Grey Warden actually reached Orlais and returned - never mind the time to assemble an army - Ferelden would already be overrun. He let go of that last feeble hope.

The only thing left was to defend Ferelden to the death and destroy as many darkspawn as he could. Hoping that Ferelden would buy enough time for the rest of Thedas to come to their aid, or end the Blight before it destroyed more than his homeland.

Gritting his teeth at his new plan; the only plan left to him that left him some self-respect since anything else would be basically running away, Alistair lurched to his feet.

Brushing as much mud as he could off of his chainmail, the Templar-trainee made the decision to leave as soon as possible. He was alive and his wounds were healed. The Grey Warden treaties were stuffed in his satchel along with his spare socks

' _You can never have too many socks'_ he grinned.

Turning towards Flemeth's hut, he blinked in surprise as the maleficar strode towards him.

Alistair shrugged nonchalantly, calling out "Well, I guess it's time for me to hit the road. Preferably before it gets dark".

The old woman kept coming, long steps eating up the ground until she stood right in front of him. Staring at him with her too eerie eyes.

"Right, um, so what did you need?" he mumbled, eyes gazing over her shoulder. He'd rather not meet her gaze, since he was already feeling thoroughly creeped out by her.

"There's a boy in the hut. I want you to take him and Morrigan with you." Flemeth stated flatly.

"What? You want me to take a _boy_ and your _daughter_ with me?" he yelped in surprise, before shaking his head. "Forgetting that, where did you even _find_ this boy? Did you steal him from some Chasind family or something? And even that, what are you doing with him that you'd need to steal him for anyway?" he rambled. "Ignoring all the shadiness around how you came to be in possession of a child in the first place, you want me to take a kid with me? I'm on a mission to fight darkspawn! I don't have time to play around with some kid."

Flemeth scowled and opened her mouth to argue, but the Warden cut her off. "And let's not even get _started_ on your daughter. She's about as friendly as a rabid dog and probably has a temperament to match. She'd swoop in one the first night we travelled together and turn me into a toad or something! Oh yes, swooping is _bad_. And another thing-"

Alistair's monologue ended abruptly as Flemeth's hand shot out and slapped over his mouth. Frowning darkly at the warrior, she removed her hand slowly. "Listen Warden and listen carefully. First of all, the boy is hardly a child. He is a grown man near your own age."

"He is not my son," she spat out as Alistair's mouth opened, "nor is he some kidnapped Chasind or magical experiment or any other absurd theory of yours that you may concoct. I found him wounded in the woods very recently, only just before I risked my neck plucking you off that burning tower at Ostagar and-"

"You found him in the woods?" the Templar-trainee cut in eagerly, "Like a survivor from Ostagar? Is it another Grey Warden? Or maybe the King?" Alistair's voice and face lit up with naked hope.

The apostate merely smiled cruelly. "No, no, and no." she sing-songed. "He doesn't even speak our language and I highly doubt King Cailen was in the habit of hiring mercenaries, much less foreign ones who couldn't even speak Ferelden. As I said, I merely found him wounded in the woods and know next to nothing about him".

Alistair was silent for a long moment, burying his resurrected hope that Duncan or some other Senior Warden had survived and would be able to take control of his mission from him. He had never really aspired to lead and would have been glad to step back.

"I see…" he answered slowly. "So you want me to take this mysterious stranger from some far-away land that neither of us know anything about with me on a mission to fight the Blight and babysit him while I do so?" growled Alistair. "Are you out of your damn mind? Whoever this stranger is, he should be running for the coast and hopping into the first ship that will take him over the sea he can find!"

The two continued to argue heatedly.

Sasuke stepped out into the sunlight, nose wrinkling at the stinking smell of bog permeated his nostrils. Stretching stiff muscles, he took in his environment and was _less_ than impressed. The hut he had been sleeping in was indeed a _hut_ , built in a muddy hole to rival Amegakure.

Directly behind and to the sides grimy, scummy water stretched out into the horizon, broken only by the occasional inlet of trees and ferns. Indeed it was a marsh to rival anything he had ever seen.

The sound of shouting drew his attention, and he looked to see Flemeth in the throes of an argument with a young man wrapped up in a suit of metal. Some type of foreign samurai he assumed if the armor was any clue, though there was something about him that set off his senses.

Some form of taint in his chakra that resembled Orochimaru's curse seal far too closely for his liking, though Sasuke doubted the taint was from Orochimaru or anything like him.

"You can and you will!"

"No! I refuse!"

"You _owe_ me Warden! I saved your life and I saved your precious treaties. Without me there would be no chance to end this Blight!"

"Well I still-!"

Sasuke watched in amusement as the old woman shot the warrior a look that he couldn't see. Whatever was written on her face was obviously intimidating enough as the tall warrior paled and looked as though he might have swallowed his tongue in an effort to stop speaking.

"Well okay then. Whatever you say." The warrior eventually conceded.

Flemeth merely snorted and turned to the Uchiha. Beckoning in a way that did _not_ imply he was a particularly slow or stupid creature, she made plain her desire for him to approach her and the stranger.

Shrugging, the raven ambled over to the two, converging with Morrigan halfway until the four stood in a rough circle.

"Introduce yourselves". The old woman uttered dryly.

"Right then," the Warden coughed. "I'm Alistair, a Grey Warden".

Sasuke simply blinked, not understanding in the least.

Flemeth chuckled.

"You _do_ realize that he doesn't understand a word of that?" Morrigan supplied sarcastically.

Alistair flushed and rubbed the back of his neck. Sasuke started at the Naruto-like gesture. "Alistair" he murmured, with a thump of metal –sheathed fist on metal-sheathed chest.

" _Your name?"_ Sasuke wondered aloud, before jabbing his finger at the warrior and repeating back clearly but slowly "Alistair".

Alistair grinned at the Uchiha. "Now you." He pointed out, not caring about the language barrier. Sasuke quirked a brow at him, but complied: "Sasuke".

"Sauce-gay"? The warrior repeated with disbelief.

Morrigan burst out laughing, and both males flushed before sending her heated glares. As the black-haired witch trailed off, she smirked at Sasuke, leaving no doubt in his mind that she was getting her jollies after the stunt he had pulled in the hut.

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke repeated his name for Alistair, slower and with more stress on correct pronunciation.

The second time the thoroughly embarrassed Warden repeated it correctly.

"Good." Flemeth commented. "Now that you've met each other, I do think it's time for you to be on your way."

"Oh that is rather sad." Morrigan drawled, "I had so dearly been hoping to make dinner for the Warden".

Alistair gulped nervously "N-no that's really quite alright. It's better than alright. It fan-bloody-tastic." He stuttered, shaking his head for emphasis.

"Oh don't be sad dear, you're going with them! You can do all the cooking your foul little heart desires!" the old woman cackled.

"What?" Morrigan screeched. "Don't be absurd!"

Sasuke just crossed his arms as he observed the arguing witches.

Alistair paled and took a slow step back. "They're both insane" the warrior whispered to the raven. "Absolutely nuts!" At Sasuke's curious glance, Alistair repeated "insane" with a finger twirling about his ear and a faux-maddened face that would have made it across any language barrier.

The corners of Sasuke's lips curled as he replied _"Yes, I would suspect so"._

"No buts Morrigan. Do as I say." The elder spoke with finality.

Morrigan huffed in reply "Very well." She hurried back into the hut to gather up anything she would end up needing.

The other three merely stood outside in silence, one not _wanting_ to talk, one not _able_ to talk, and one too wrapped up in her amusement to _bother_ talking.

The young witch returned shortly afterwards with a satchel tied to her waist and one of the staffs that Sasuke had noticed earlier strapped to her back. "Well let's _go_ Warden, we don't have time to dilly-dally." She growled before setting off into the woods.

Alistair started in place before hurrying after.

Sasuke watched the couple go, quite sure they were truly the oddest individuals he had seen in a while.

"Do go after them." Flemeth purred at him.

The Uchiha simply grunted, not really understanding what she actually wanted him to do. Then her hand landed on his ass and _squeezed._ Sasuke's eyes widened in shock and he snapped his head towards the old witch.

She waggled her eyebrows at him before pointing after the two who had already disappeared over the nearest hill. "Go." She repeated, and the thoroughly violated shinobi took off like Naruto after a bowl of ramen, needing no further encouragement.

The old woman laughed, and called after him "Do come visit sometime!"

He merely ran faster.

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter settles in at just over 2000 words. I'm not really a fan of such short chapter lengths – One Thousand Nights runs at 5000 and Chasing Yesterday ran at 7000. Some of my other stuff hits 4000 words a chapter. But since this is a rewrite of already existing stuff and Dragon of Beauty was first posted with 2000 word chapter lengths, I'll stick to it. It'll make updating quicker, if nothing else.


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